


Limits

by TheNinth



Series: Stargate Atlantis: Earth-Based [3]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-15
Updated: 2009-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-05 02:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNinth/pseuds/TheNinth





	Limits

  
  
  
**Entry tags:** |    
[prompt table: 50 ficlets sga](http://ninefics.livejournal.com/tag/prompt+table:+50+ficlets+sga), [stargate atlantis](http://ninefics.livejournal.com/tag/stargate+atlantis)  
  
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Zelenka and McKay sat next to each other, their bodies so close they were almost touching. They focused on the task at hand - an array of tiny crystals (some only slightly larger than a grain of sand) spread on black velvet as a jeweler might display diamonds.

Using tweezers, Zelenka selected three nearly invisible fragments and then dropped them into a test tube. The clear liquid in the tube fizzed gently as the crystals dissolved.

Zelenka made a low humming sound. It was not a happy noise.

"What?" Rodney snapped. "What is it?"

"I don't know just yet. Give me a moment to process this sample."

Zelenka muttered to himself as he capped the tube and slotted it into the machine. Rodney had no idea if Zelenka was vocalizing the steps required to analyze the crystal, or if Zelenka was wishing harm on Rodney. Rodney assumed it was the latter.

In the past seventy-two hours, neither man had slept more than a fifteen-minute nap here and there. Zelenka's eyes were rimmed with red. Rodney was in serious need of a shave. They both smelled... less than fresh.

The centrifuge gave a thump and a wheeze. All the buttons on the control panel flashed briefly and then the machine fell silent. Radek let go a stream of utterances that could not be mistaken for anything other than swearing.

"I am sorry, Rodney. The trip from Pegasus, the re-entry... Atlantis took damage we haven't even realized yet. Systems are failing, and if we want to keep the city shielded we'll have to research elsewhere. Atlantis has reached her limit." He paused, expecting a verbal assault from Doctor McKay.

Rodney, apparently at a limit of his own, scrubbed his face with one hand and sighed. "I'll let Stargate Command know that we need a lab. You start packing up everything, and I mean _everything_ that we'll need to keep working."

Radek put a hand on Rodney's shoulder, stopping him as he turned to leave. "Rodney," he said before McKay could snap at him again, "we'll figure this out. We'll take Atlantis home." And he believed it. He knew it in every cell in his body. A limit wasn't an _end_. It was just a marker.


End file.
